Followers

Monday, September 19, 2016

JUST Seminar: World Beyond War: The Rohingya Refugee Crisis and its Implications on Security in the ASEAN region

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings
from the International Movement for a Just World (JUST)!

JUST is a co-sponsor of the “World Beyond War”
conference and festival of events in Washington, D.C. on the weekend of 23-25
September 2016. Leading thought leaders, activists, and intellectuals from
throughout the world will be participating in this important event.

Towards this end, we are pleased to announce
that JUST will be organizing a major seminar on “World Beyond War: The Rohingya
Refugee Crisis and its Implications on Security in the ASEAN Region” on
the 24th of September 2016 at the Institut Integriti Malaysia (IIM)
in Kuala Lumpur, and would like to cordially invite you, your colleagues,
students, and friends to be participants at the said event.

We plan to present
the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the seminar to the UN
Secretary- General, the ASEAN Secretary-General, and the Malaysian government,
so the appropriate steps may be taken.

We are confident
that you will both benefit immensely from the discussion on this crucial issue,
as well as contribute to the richness of the deliberations in substantive ways.
JUST loves to see its supporters and those critically engaged with the most
pressing issues in the world today at its events, so we hope to see you here.

Please note that spaces will be limited to 100 participants, so
please confirm your attendance as soon as possible to reserve your seats.

We look forward to
your response and participation.

Warm regards,

Dr. Chandra
Muzaffar

President

International
Movement for a Just World (JUST)

Concept
Note

The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) will host a seminar in September 2016 as
part of its support for a global nonviolent movement entitled ‘World Beyond War’,
based in Washington D.C., to end war
and establish a just and sustainable peace. The organization of the seminar in
Kuala Lumpur supports a major World Beyond War event in Washington, D.C.
scheduled for 23-25 September 2016, just after the International Day of Peace.
This note provides the concept for the JUST seminar as well as its scope and
strategic contribution to the World Beyond War movement.

The seminar will provide an opportunity to assess the
Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, from the perspective of non-traditional
security (‘NTS’) challenges, and its nexus to inter-state cooperation in the
South East Asian region. The NTS challenges are non-military areas that expand
the security agenda beyond its traditional remit of state and military security
such as undocumented forced migration, transnational organized crime i.e.
people smuggling, human and narco trafficking, food shortages and infectious
diseases. These challenges are amplified by the forces of globalization, and exceed
the capacity of individual states in the region to effectively resolve them,
which can lead to conflict or war.

Despite garnering significant public attention in 2015 over the
boat crisis, Rohingya refugees are not welcomed by other countries in ASEAN, as
they are increasingly viewed as possible threats to national security
associated with rise of terrorism and transnational crime, in addition to being
seen as an economic burden. The actions taken at the regional level by ASEAN to
solve the Rohingya refugee crisis are focused on stemming the flow of refugees into
their countries rather than addressing its root causes.

A strong,
multilateral co-operative approach in the region is urgently needed, in line
with ASEAN’s ‘people first’ policy, to halt the catastrophic unfolding of
genocidal acts against the Rohingya. The formulation of an ASEAN comprehensive
framework of action must also be considered, through a range of humanitarian,
security, political, legal and development initiatives involving governments,
international organizations and civil society actors. The framework should
place emphasis on the human security of individuals in the region through
preventive diplomacy and conflict management, including serious examination of
root causes for the flight of Rohingyas. The impetus for such a response within
ASEAN has already begun, with the recently published report on “The Rohingya
Crisis and the Risk of Atrocities in Myanmar”, by the ASEAN Parliamentarians
for Human Rights[1].
The report describes the Rohingya refugee crisis as an ASEAN problem, and
ASEAN-wide challenge, setting out a “Call to Action” by outlining ten action
points for consideration.

Background

The United Nations considers the Rohingya as one of the most
persecuted groups in the world. Their humanitarian condition is worsened by
their official statelessness in Myanmar, deprived of citizenship as Myanmar
considers the Rohingya to be immigrants from Bangladesh and West Bengal. The
situation has deteriorated to such a degree that a recent report by the
International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at the Queen Mary University of
London[2] states
that the Rohingya are facing the final stages of genocide. The report makes reference to decades of persecution which
have taken on a new and intensified form since the emergence of mass
killings in 2012. The marked escalation in what has been described by the
report as state-sponsored stigmatization, discrimination, violence and
segregation, and the systematic weakening of the community,
make precarious the very existence of the Rohingya. Another recent report prepared
by the International Human Rights Clinic at the Yale Law School for Fortify
Rights[3] has
concluded that there is strong evidence that genocide is being committed
against the Rohingya by security forces, government officials, local Rakhine residents
and others.

In desperation, the Rohingya have turned to people smugglers
and boarded boats in Bangladesh and Myanmar, hoping to reach safety and seek
refuge in other ASEAN countries. This mass refugee movement has fuelled a
thriving human trafficking trade that include the establishment of jungle camps
along Thailand’s border with Malaysia. These camps which contained mass graves were
discovered by Thai authorities in 2015, resulting in boats filled with refugees
being abandoned and set adrift at sea by trafficking rings, necessitating
rescue operations by Malaysia and Indonesia. Following this, the Thai
government organized a “Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian
Ocean” on 29 May, 2015 in Bangkok in recognition of the need for stronger
multilateral cooperation to address the Rohingya refugee issue.

[1]ASEAN
Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), The
Rohingya Crisis and the Risk of Atrocities in Myanmar: An ASEAN Challenge and a
Call to Action, April 2015, http://www.aseanmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-Rohingya-Crisis-and-the-Risk-of-Atrocities-in-Myanmar-An-ASEAN-Challenge-and-Call-to-Action.pdf

About Me

Born in Penang, speaks English, Malay, Hokkien & some Tamil. Managing Director and founder of zubedy (m) sdn bhd. Graduated from University Malaya and was in marketing for a multinational before setting up zubedy in 94. www.zubedy.com

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As this is an unending journey, I will never achieve my dreams … not in their fullest form. They are too far away in the idealistic world... but,

" The quest of truth will set you free, even if you never catch up with it".

I am one of those dreamers who have found a practical formula of living for today (compartmentalization) and try to achieve parts of my dreams a moment at a time, part by part. It is okay to die without achieving all the lofty dreams, as the spirit will be passed on to others, who are dreamers too.

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We know too little about each other’s traditions, way of life and beliefs.

In fact many amongst us may not even know about our own spiritual traditions, scripture and core religious foundation. Most times we delegate our thinking to our religious teachers and later complain about how they go about doing their job.